A Smarter Way to Date?

Hily is a dating app that’s applying Artificial Intelligence to the art of finding a perfect match.

There is this enduring romantic idea out there that finding love should be random and spontaneous. But is kissing all the frogs really the best way to find your prince(ss)? For one, if you lead a busy lifestyle, chances are won’t ever get to meet the right people, those who actually share your interests, passions, dreams, and quirks. Tech is now a part of every aspect of our social lives, so why not get a little help where it comes to connecting with compatible humans?

Enter Hily, a social discovery app that has just launched in the UK. It allows people to make new friends, chat and meet in a safe environment.

Users know exactly who liked them, who checked their profiles and when someone read their message Click To Tweet

The name Hily is an acronym for “Hey, I Like You” and is the brainchild of Yan Pronin, an entertainment industry veteran with a background in analytics, he saw the power of statistical analysis in optimally matching guests to the best entertainment experience while working at Caesars Ent. in Las Vegas.

The name Hily is an acronym for 'Hey, I Like You' Click To Tweet

Pronin decided to use his passion for statistics and improve the way people connect. Having realized that the market is craving new experiences – he designed an app that uses Machine Learning to help people build more sustainable relationships based on their real interests.

“Usually, when one hears of modern technologies, they automatically imagine something like a ‘Black Mirror’ scenario, but machine learning can do awesome things, such as matching people with similar interests,” he says.

While most dating apps sort people by distance or appearance, Hily offers a qualitative feed for each user. The machine analyses users’ likes, matches, and dialogues to create a personalized and best- matching set of potential partners. The more the users swipe, the smarter the machine gets and the higher are their chances to find someone special.

“The most interesting things on Hily happen when a person actively uses the application, swipes left or right, writes messages, sends bubbles,” Pronin explains. “Based on this information, Hily identifies the interests and preferences of each user.”

To increase the probability of matches, Hily employs machine-learning-based algorithms instead of a user’s geographic location as many other dating apps do. The AI is constantly monitoring engagement to improve the user experience. Hily goes for better matches, identifying users with the same interests and a higher probability of liking each other, taking data from the depth of dialogue, mutual likes, photos sent etc. The more you use the app, the higher the quality of the matches is.

But as much as the most popular dating apps leveragesalgorithms to do the heavy lifting in figuring out your perfect date, there is also a human side, where a friendly support team is on hand 24/7 to help out with any problems or issues that might come up.

Hily uses machine learning to show you the most appropriate profiles that can actually trigger your heart Click To Tweet

Ensuring safety is also a big concern. All user profiles are verified to make sure there are no fakes. The clever machine learning is also put to work filtering out any abusive or inappropriate content and making sure you’re not wasting your time talking to a bot.

Since launching in the US market in 2017 Hily quickly became one of the country’s top five dating apps, with registration rates increasing twentyfold in two years and earning consistently high user ratings.

To increase the probability of matches, Hily employs machine-learning-based algorithms instead of geolocation Click To Tweet

Since launching in the US market in 2017 Hily quickly became one of the country’s top five dating apps Click To Tweet

On Hily, users can send each other messages with GIFS and video bubbles. It makes conversations more entertaining and allows to add some spiciness to your flirt. Hily also notifies you when your messages have been read, something that most other dating apps either charge for or don’t provide at all.

The app also offers a list of tailored and personalized icebreakers to make it easier to start a meaningful conversation, a feature allowing to send GIFs and video messages to one’s matches and the opportunity to record video-stories visible to anyone on the app.

Hily’s ‘love algorithm’ understands the slightest nuances of your preferences and offers you the special one, Well, a couple of ‘special ones Click To Tweet

Hily is free to download and use, but it also has a paid premium subscription called Hily Elixir which is ad-free and includes additional features and filters to enhance the experience ($9.99 per month, available on iTunes and PlayMarket). There is also a micro-transaction model where you can pay small amounts to temporarily boost your profile visibility or enhanced messaging functionality.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. You can follow @alicebonasio on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her Inside VR/AR Newletter for all the latest curated immersive news.